I cannot understand the meaning of the “Certified Broadcast Holdings Company” Act which came about through the Broadcasting Revision. Because public service is required, a single shareholder is limited to owning less than a third of the company? So, why was there no such limit until now? Furthermore, [if you don’t apply to be the] “Certified Broadcast Holdings Company”, then there is no such limit? That’s why TV Tokyo can still remain a subsidiary of Nihon Keizai Shimbun.
If they say it's for public service, then broadcasting companies who are not a "certified broadcast holding company" should also be restricted to one third of the stock ownership. There is no consistency. In the end, it was probably a law created by this country just as a hostile takeover defense plan. The fact that they’re not thinking even the slightest bit about the public service is obvious.
I think, the fact that they decided to enact the "Certified Broadcast Holding Company" Act to escape from Rakuten's hostile takeover bid is similar to a breach of trust towards stock holders. Not that I know how much they are going to buy back the stocks from Rakuten, but how are they going to raise the funds for this? Because of the downslide of revenue from advertisements, they are no longer able to guarantee the cashflow from their core business, and with this recession, it’s clear where their real estate business is headed. To try and raise a good sum now, surely it could prove fatal?
To enact this policy so that the management can protect themselves and ensure that they stay in the company forever is severely damaging, with no advantages. Also Nihon TV, when they said they would cut their “president” to take responsibility for a fabricated broadcast, all they were doing were actually just cutting off the tail of a lizard. Even now, Seiichiro Ujiie is still the chairman. He became president in 1992, (there was a short period when the position remained vacant) and has since maintained his position as company representative. The same goes for Fuji TV’s Hisashi Hieda. Since becoming president in 1988, he has remained as the top of management for over 20 years.
Well anyway, in an age where the predominance of television broadcasting is now shaky, where the system is to throw the creation of programs straight to production companies, where there are no more real-time programs as it’s all filled with variety programs instead, where newscasters only say unnecessary comments, there are many places where improvement is needed. It’s now too late for the big broadcasters to try to become a big mainstay with an Internet venture, they probably know that all doors are closed to them. Well, if they want to profit from being the last remaining player [in the market], i don't really care.
Originally posted on http://ameblo.jp/takapon-jp
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